Nov 30, 2010

Today's Tender Tidbits

My husband and I share 1 car, a 2001 Toyota Corolla. It's small, has 2 wheel drive, gets good gas mileage, and my husband can squeeze his 6'4" frame into the drivers seat. I like to consider our household "car-lite" which is better for the environment.  However, it is mostly just economical. Since I don't go into work everyday, I drive the car one day a week, in order to get errands done around town. In the warmer seasons I'm happy to ride my bike, which is a great bonus of living in a city. However, in the winter a car is more necessary. Today was my turn to use the car and this made for a long day. It was also a day that a snow storm decided to blow into town. Being a California girl from the central coast I never really drove in the snow, but having lived in Idaho for the last 6 years, I'm beginning to get used to it.

Running all my errands forced me to consider our current income and how it is changing now that I am not earning a paycheck. With two incomes and no children yet, I could be pretty loose with my budget, but that's all changing. I now have to consider every purchase I make, and am beginning to understand coupon clippers and bargain shoppers. While it may seem naive, I'm going to have to learn to budget anew and find pleasure in the art of the deal. Money is not what will make me happy, although I would be lying if I denied the sense of pleasure I get when spending it on all manner of goodies. Real happiness can be found in my list of tiny tender treasures from today:
  • Getting my tires rotated makes me feel responsible. Best part it's totally FREE!
  • Leisurely enjoying a latte
  • Coming home to a warm house
  • Snowflakes
  • Figuring out how to decorate my pregnant belly casting
  • Watching my husband, focusing with eyes closed, listen to our baby's heartbeat through a fetoscope
                     Tender Memory: Visiting Mont Sainte Michael on our honeymoon to France

Nov 29, 2010

First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life


I have come to use the word tender to mean sweet, happy, or for any circumstance that is just...well... tender. Sometimes it's a photo, or kind words or sentiments expressed, or a thoughtful action. As a person and active member of this world I try to live in a conscientious and tender way towards others and myself. Sometimes it's difficult, and I don't always succeed, but it's a worthy ideal. In these posts my goal is to express how I and my family aspire to live in a tender way with each other, our friends and neighbors, and the earth itself.

Now, so you know where I'm coming from, I'll introduce myself. My name is Megan and I am at a turning of seasons in my life, so to speak. My first child is expected to be born any day, I just ended my career and my husband and I are attempting to live on one income. We're working on being a nuclear family, for all the good and bad connotations that may have. I am many things to different people, a daughter, wife, sister, friend, soon to be mother, recently retired Kindergarten teacher, Doula, hopeful stay at home mom. These are titles that I wear proudly, but not one can define who I am as a person. Maybe the one true thing I know about myself is that I am painfully normal. No matter the situation, I can always bet that I'm not the first person to to experience it, nor will I be the last. It is this simple knowledge that provides small amounts of peace in times of chaos, and pushes me to be a more unique individual on my good days.

If this blog goes according to plan, which has about a 50/50 chance of happening, it will be an account of me and my family's day to day existence. It is an attempt to find wonder and fulfillment within this ordinary life. Bear with me, I can be painfully optimistic. I won't try to list all of the possible things this will include, but a few will be:
  • Living on one income
  • Being a new mother, staying at home to raise our baby
  • Cooking
  • Gardening
  • How we attempt to stay healthy
  • Being married
  • Living in the capital of a state that most would consider middle America
  • Working to leave a light footprint on the earth, because it's the right thing to do
You get the idea. Any and everything that involves living and breathing is fair game. My hopes are to document this life I have created and share it with anyone who wants to read about it. Which are probably the 12 people my mother will send the link to. I value comments, feedback and questions, especially since I'm out of the work force and have to create my own social circle now. Read on, dear readers, to witness how I am attempting to live a tender life, and consider how you're living your most tender life too. Now I must go, because even though in my head I am becoming an amazing and in depth blogger and am beginning to believe this is going to be my next BIG THING, the heater guy is here to fix our ailing heater, which resides under the house. The fact that someone is willing to crawl under my house to remedy this issue is pretty tender on his part.

Oh yes, I can't fail to mention my friend Chelsea and her blog www.beingchelsea.com as she is one of my closest friends, she has inspired me to race in triathlons, live in a healthy way, and to start my own blog. Thanks Chelsea.